Ozone
by Team Ozone
Summary: When two insane cults threaten to tear Hoenn apart, only one person has the courage to stand in their way. Brendan, son of the local Pokemon Professor, intends to infiltrate the villainous Team Magma and prevent the destruction of the land he loves. Forming his own Team in the shadows, Brendan's rise to power is Hoenn's only chance for salvation. A story of myth and espionage.
1. Chapter 1

_I am a child of the earth and sea. I am a son of the sky._

_The soil between my toes is wet with blood. I've killed too many people to be shocked by this, but somehow, this time is different. I can feel the numbness of other people's death crawling over me, tingling at my fingertips, and turning my eyes to stone._

_I wish it hadn't come to this, but there is a price for everything. My gut churns at the thought, but I cannot deny that this price is fair. Only life can pay for death._

_Red light gleams on the gory mess underfoot. I can't tell whether it's the red of sunset or just sunlight reflecting from the blood. Has the day ended already? I can't bear to look up. There are harder sights ahead of me than my bloody crimes._

_After a moment, I drop my knife. Enough is enough. I will not cower from Him any longer. With a force of effort, I raise my eyes to the south-east sky._

_The Sky Pillar is visible even from here, a needle in the distance stretching into the heavens. My eyes cannot make out its peak, it is so high. But I know that the Sky Pillar ends. I have been there, on the ceiling of the world. I have looked up and seen the lowest room of the lowest dungeon of the heavens._

_And He came down to me in fire and fury._

_To speak His name is blasphemy of the highest order, but it is known to me. I have earned it with salt and blood. May those who survive forgive me. His will is done._

**Rayquaza.**

0-0-0

_Twelve months previously_

0-0-0

A major road had once wound its way through the Petalburg Woods, but now it was overgrown. Small trees and bushes encroached onto the broken surface of old asphalt, which was hardly visible under the layers of dirt and tall grass. The land had been left to go wild. Only the gap in the forest canopy really showed where the road had been. The forest was bright and airy, illuminated by the noon sun. A gentle breeze wafted along the old road, providing some small respite from the heat of a Hoenn summer.

I could only see the breeze as it lifted stray leaves, not feel it. The only shield I had against the sun was the shade of the trees. That was one of the reasons why I was walking several metres deep into the underbrush, rather than on the open road.

There was a fair amount of traffic on the forest route today. It was a holiday, and a group of boys from the local school had come out to catch bugs and enjoy the weather. They were likely to challenge anyone who passed to a battle. It didn't bother me, and on another day I might have humoured them, but today I had other things to do.

It took more than an hour of walking before I was in the right place. I double-checked the landmarks to be sure. A trail of marker posts followed the opposite side of the road, leading in both directions. It was adorned with coloured arrows, pointing towards Petalburg City and Rustboro respectively. One of the ones opposite was split down the middle, broken from age and weather. So here I was.

A movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. The branches rustled softly as a tiny weight disturbed them. There was a flicker of green against brown, a green which was not the same colour as the leaves all around me. I watched it silently for a moment, and then the green shape launched itself at my head.

My instincts screamed at me to duck, but I pushed them down. It was only a Treecko. I brought my hands swiftly together in an attempt to catch the Pokemon in midair, but I was a second too slow. It landed on my shoulder, and sank two rows of tiny teeth into my earlobe.

"Ow," I said. Not so much because it hurt as to tell the Treecko that it had won. I reached up and grabbed it by the tail. It let go of my ear and dove at my hand, trying to bite my fingers, but I was faster this time. I pulled it off my shoulder, and held it in front of my face. The sight was hilarious. A little green lizard spun and snarled, flailing all of its limbs in an attempt to extricate itself from my grip.

After a moment of struggle, it managed to pull itself up, onto my hand. They were surprisingly agile creatures, even when dangling by their tails. It sank its teeth into my palm as hard as it could. Although that wasn't very hard.

I let go, and opened my palm. The Treecko chirruped happily, and ran up my arm, to sit on my shoulder.

"Hello again," I said. "I still need to think of a name for you, don't I? Maybe that will stop you from attacking me all the time."

The Treecko licked my ear, where it had bitten me.

I chuckled. He'd only been playing. He was a cute little thing, hardly out of infancy, but already learning to be my little monster. He'd grow into a real champion with a bit of training, but I wasn't sure if I was going to train him yet. Perhaps I'd keep him the way he was; pocket-sized company. I had other Pokemon around for when I needed to battle.

That didn't mean Treecko wouldn't be useful, though. I scratched his head absently, and sat down at the base of a tree. I shifted position a bit, to make sure I had a good view of the road, then rapped my knuckles on the tree.

The Treecko chirped in my ear questioningly. I picked him up and placed him on the trunk. His adhesive feet stuck to the bark, and he scampered up into the boughs, where he disappeared from sight. His presence up there would keep away all the bug Pokemon living in the forest which might get curious about my presence here - or worse, territorial. They were no danger, but fending them off would be noisy.

Drawing attention to myself with noise or battling would completely ruin the task I had in these woods.

I plucked a device from my belt, flipping it open with my thumb. I flicked through various menus without looking. After doing it so many times, the motions were built into reflex. After a few taps on the screen, I reached the right contact, and hit the call button. I lifted the PokeNav to my ear. The volume was kept as low as possible, to prevent anyone from overhearing. Not that there was anyone nearby. Yet.

There was a crackle of static as the device connected, then a voice came from it.

"Birch speaking."

"I'm in position. Is he ready?" I was careful to speak quietly. A bit of tweaking had boosted the input from my microphone. I wasn't quite whispering, but I spoke as quietly as I could without being inaudible.

"Steven dropped him at the waypoint fifteen minutes ago. He's loaded with bait and headed your way."

"And Aqua?" I asked.

"The information was leaked successfully. Doesn't look like Archie took much interest. We've been monitoring the route from Rustboro to the woods. Our agent only noticed a single Grunt."

"What if they came from Petalburg?" There was a long pause, broken only by the quiet hiss of static. I wondered if the connection had been lost. That's the problem with phones in Hoenn. The heavy strictures on commercial building and environmental damage had prevented any phone masts from being constructed. It was a good thing, of course, but it meant that we had to rely on a satellite connection for our PokeNavs, and that could cut out randomly for any reason - solar flares, magnetic interference, or just plain spite.

"Dad?" I asked. "Are you there?"

"Yeah. Sorry. Thinking." I grinned. Dad was a Pokemon Professor through and through, from his love of Pokemon to his habit of zoning out whenever he was deep in thought over the latest problem.

"No, definitely not," he said at last. "You'd have seen them on your way in. Not much gets past you without you noticing." The matter-of-fact compliment made me smile. Dad wasn't the type to lay on flattery, but his bluntly positive assessments of my abilities were one of the biggest sources of my confidence. The other source, of course, was my own assessment of my abilities.

"Damn it," he cursed. "We just don't have enough manpower for what we're trying to do here."

"Sure we do," I said. "A few good men in the right place can do more than a thousand in the wrong place. We're an operation of surgical precision, not a blunt instrument."

"True enough," he answered. He began to say something else, but I interrupted him. I was on a mission, after all. I'd called him for information, not to have a chat.

"Dad - sorry - I have to cut you off. They could get here any time now. All the effort of setting this trap will be wasted if I miss the opportunity because I was on the phone." I heard a hearty guffaw come from the other end of the line.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to taking orders from my son," he said.

The situation was odd, it was true. I tried not to laugh with him. Talking quietly was one thing, but I'd be a fool twice-over if I gave my position away to my quarry by laughing aloud. Still, working with my Dad was nice, just like when I'd helped him out on field-work studying Pokemon when I was younger. I was pleasantly surprised that it hadn't been an issue so far, but we'd always worked as equals in the past, so that's what we kept doing now. Even though I was technically his boss.

"Bye, Dad," I said. I snapped the PokeNav shut, ending the call.

I waited there, at the base of the tree, for several minutes. I amused myself by attempting to pick out my Treecko in the branches. He was almost impossible to spot, his natural colouration helping him to blend into the foliage. I only ever managed to catch a glimpse of him when he moved around.

He must have noticed me watching him, because a nut mysteriously dislodged itself and bounced off my head. Odd, that, because there weren't any nuts on this tree. I rubbed my head ruefully. He was a nuisance, but it was good that he was so playful. Having him around helped keep my spirits up. It was largely due to his mischievous company that I wasn't in a thoroughly bad mood by now.

Even in the shade, it was unbearably hot. I took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly. My disguise was far warmer than the clothes I usually wore. No testimony was more damning as to Team Magma's stupidity than their choice to wear black in summertime, so far as I was concerned. Not to mention the ridiculous hood. I flicked one of the ears on the hood miserably, and promised myself that when I was done here, I'd swim across the Rustboro River instead of crossing the bridge to reach the city.

Soon after that, I saw what I was waiting for. A man dressed in a suit, clutching a briefcase, was walking along the road. He was coming from the south; from Petalburg City. I recognised him instantly. He was Patrick Sulvin, a junior member of the Devon Corporation's research team. He was also the bait for my trap.

When he reached the broken marker, he paused, as we had agreed. For a spiteful moment, I was pleased to see that wearing a suit in this weather had made him nearly as uncomfortable as I was in this Team Magma outfit. A bead of sweat was just visible on his temple from this distance. But then he turned slightly, and I saw something truly horrifying.

The bastard was eating an ice cream.

Well, I suppose I had told him to contrive some reason for hovering by that post. I wished he'd just stopped to tie a shoelace or something, though. Bastard. Not that I was jealous, or anything.

That was it, then. The trap was set. All I had left to do was - well, what I'd been doing. Wait. This time for the Team Aqua Grunt to show up. They wouldn't be far away now. The Petalburg Woods weren't particularly large, only a few miles across if you followed the road.

Someone finally appeared from around the corner. I stared at her in surprise.

"I'll be damned," I muttered under my breath. It was my new neighbour, May, looking as cool as anything in both meanings of the word in a pair of white shorts and her characteristic red jacket. Her long brown hair was pulled up off her neck, and tied with a Pokeball-print red scarf. As much as I'd have liked to, I didn't stare at her legs as she walked by. Because I was hiding in the bushes, and that would be weird. I could ogle her later. There'd be plenty of time for that. Besides, not much point in checking her out unless she could see me doing it.

"Hey!" she shouted in greeting.

I jumped in surprise, almost slamming my head into the tree trunk, before I realised she wasn't talking to me.

"Oh! Erm, hello!" exclaimed Patrick. I winced. Not to put too blunt a point on it, Patrick was a nerd. Great guy, but bad with strangers. Especially bad with girls.

"I was just looking for a Shroomish!" he blurted out. Bad with lies, too. I hoped he'd know to shut up soon. If he babbled incoherently, May would be sure to notice he was up to something weird. "I really love that Pokemon! Have you seen any?" he asked, speaking rapidly. "They sometimes come up to the edge of the road to enjoy the sun, you know."

I groaned inwardly as May began to engage him in conversation. Great. She loved Pokemon as much as my dad did. I'd only known her a little while, but that had been clear from the moment we'd met. And Patrick could talk on the subject for hours. His job was Poketech research, after all. This could be bad. If they kept talking for too long, the Aqua Grunt might show up.

Did I have Patrick's number? Yes, I did. I must do. I glanced down at my PokeNav, and ran my thumb across the shiny metal surface. I wondered if I'd be able to call Patrick and tell him to cut the chat - but no, that wouldn't work. They were too close. May would hear me, no matter how quiet I was. I cursed Devon Corporation for not adding a text message feature to the PokeNavs.

Fuck. I wouldn't be able to confront the Aqua Grunt if May didn't go before they arrived. I couldn't let May see me dressed as a Magma Grunt. It was bad enough that I looked ridiculous, but I could cope with a bit of embarrassment. Sure, I had a bit of a thing for her, but her laughing at me wouldn't hurt my chances there at all. But if she thought I was a member of Team-fucking-Magma,nothing good would happen.

Maybe she'd confront me about it, and the Aqua Grunt would get away. Maybe she'd tell someone, and my cover would be blown. Or maybe she'd just hold me in complete contempt.

Her family had only moved to Hoenn a little while ago, so maybe she wouldn't recognise the Team Magma uniform. I could tell her I was at, oh, I don't know, a fancy dress party in the woods. Fuck. No, that wouldn't work. She was intelligent enough to pay attention to current events. She'd know the uniform for what it was.

And then the issue was no longer an issue, because the Aqua Grunt finally arrived. He burst around the corner, and began sprinting towards Patrick and May.

He was wearing the trademark uniform of Team Aqua - light blue trousers adorned with white markings, and a black and white shirt. And a bandana. He was basically dressed like a cartoon pirate. He looked utterly ridiculous.

As soon as I had that thought, I self-consciously remembered what I was wearing, right down to the red hood which had a fetching pair of pointy ears. Ugh.

"You! Devon researcher! Hand over that briefcase!"

I sunk my head into my hands, zoning out from the scene on the road. This was all wrong. Damnit, May. Why did you have to turn up now, of all times?

After all the effort I'd put into setting this trap, I couldn't spring it. Ugh. Right. No.

Out on the road, things were getting interesting. May had pulled out a pokeball. I pulled myself together. This would be fine. I'd just watch what happened. If she won the battle, the situation might still be salvageable.

The confrontation with an Aqua Grunt had been in the mission briefing, but that's why this farce was happening. I'd plotted out a way to lure one out, where I could send him running with a few bruises and bring the prize to my new superiors in Team Magma. This infiltration plot had seemed easy at first. Unfortunately, getting recruited had been the only easy part. Rising through the ranks was going to be harder.

The briefcase in Patrick's hand was the important part. If May ran the Grunt off, I could just have Patrick give it to me. If she didn't manage to - damn it. The Grunt had been assigned to this mission all by himself. That meant Archie had either deemed it vitally important and put a special member on the job, or that he thought it was just a throwaway chore for some no-name rookie. Going by his standard Grunt uniform and how young he looked, I figured it was just a rookie member. Hardly a threat to any seasoned Pokemon trainer.

Fine, I said to myself. I resolved to step in if it looked like May was in danger. A part of me wouldn't let go of the nagging worry that she'd be hurt. I remembered that she'd only been a trainer for a short time. Less than a month, in fact.

I pushed those feelings away. She'd never have a chance to grow as a trainer if I tried to fight her battles for her, and she damn well wouldn't appreciate me playing at being a hero and trying to save her when she didn't need it. I suppose that a part of me wanted to show off in front of my cute new neighbour by chasing off the deadbeat Grunt, but I ignored that petty desire. Any brownie points I earned by doing that would be taken back off by showing up dressed as Team Magma. Besides, this was supposed to be a covert mission, not showboating.

The Aqua Grunt threw his pokeball to the ground, snarling some vague promise about how easily he was going to win. Pretty much as soon as I heard him say that, I relaxed, confident that May would kick his ass.

A Poochyena burst out of the ball, and howled loudly to announce its presence. Not to any Pokemon, because May still hadn't released hers, but more to itself. Howling helped to raise its spirit, psyching itself up, ready to attack.

The Poochyena must have been a vicious little bastard, trained to work itself into a frenzy. It ran back and forth in what was supposed to be a threatening display. It might have worked on an older Poochyena, or been impressive from a Mightyena, but from this little thing it just looked as if he was chasing his tail.

I noticed the smile on May's face. She'd obviously been thinking the same thing. I hoped she wouldn't underestimate it for looking ridiculous, though. That level of aggression from a Pokemon before it even has an opponent is worrying. Yet another black mark against Team Aqua - the savage way they train their Pokemon.

May tossed her pokeball in the air, shouting the name of her Pokemon.

"Go, Srira!" she cried.

I recognised the name. It was the only Pokemon of hers which I'd actually seen - her Torchic. I wasn't there when my dad gave it to her, but he'd told me the story. A Poochyena had been trying to sink its teeth into him, and May had come by at the right moment. She'd borrowed a Torchic from my dad's dropped rucksack, and bonded with it instantly, managing to knock that Poochyena into the dirt and win her first Pokemon battle.

Well, then. That was certainly a good precedent. Now that she'd had a chance to train Srira up a bit, I was eager to see what the Torchic would do against another, stronger Poochyena.

But as the light of the pokeball coalesced into Srira, my jaw dropped in shock. I wouldn't be seeing that, after all.

I'll be damned.

Her starter Pokemon had already evolved, in less than a month. A young Combusken stood before us, still covered in the redder, downier feathers of a Torchic, but with the distinct shape of a Combusken in fine health - right down to the two strong legs the species was known for.

Srira leapt into the air, and the Poochyena charged forward. They met almost perfectly in the middle of their impromptu arena, frozen in position for a split-second with Srira's clawed foot driven deep into the Poochyena's side. And then the tableau shattered, and Srira brought her other foot forward, slamming it into the Poochyena's muzzle in a perfectly executed double-kick.

The Poochyena flew a metre backwards, then ground to a halt on the dusty surface of the road. It struggled to rise for a moment, and then collapsed in a heap. From where I was watching, it looked as if it had disappeared into a clump of tall grass.

"Snapper!" wailed the Aqua Grunt. I snorted in derision at his choice of nickname. Some people were just plain awful at naming their Pokemon.

"This - this doesn't matter, anyway!" the Grunt shouted, bitterly. "We're also after something in Rustboro, so Team Aqua still gets what we want today. You haven't stopped anything here." In a sudden, jerky motion, he recalled his Poochyena and fled.

I watched him run for a moment, laughing inwardly. Some of these Grunts were pathetic. Still, once you went up the ranks a little way, they became a real threat. Combine their numbers and their dangerous leaders, and these Teams suddenly became the biggest danger to modern Hoenn. I shivered, despite the heat of the day. As much as I liked to deride the individual members, they were a force to be reckoned with; less a pair of rival gangs than two utterly insane cults, led by two men opposite in every way save for the treacherous cunning and ruthlessness which they shared.

Dwelling on the threat would do no good. I turned back to May, whose face was lit up with a brilliant smile. Yeah, that battle just decided it. May was exactly my type. I was definitely going to make an effort to catch up to her in Rustboro. The way I saw it, she owed me at least a round of drinks after scuppering my plan.

And Rustboro might be the perfect place to do a little recruiting. Infiltration was only the first step. Dad was right. We needed more people on board to stop Team Aqua and Magma. We needed a Team of our own.

If anyone asks, I'll say we don't have a uniform because we're a covert team, working from stealth. I'll be damned before I have to wear another stupid costume.

They can't make me. I was the boss. I grinned at the thought. Power felt nice. Maybe I'd go mad and take over the world once I've dealt with Magma and Aqua. I laughed, running a few scenarios through my head.

And then I paused. Huh. I knew what I was capable of. I knew what resources were at my disposal. Once I'd dealt with the Teams, I could probably fucking do it.

"Well, now," I muttered to myself. "Won't that be fun?"

I paused, again. Nah. It'd probably be too much hassle.

May and Patrick had walked off while I'd been indulging in megalomania, each heading in opposite directions. I toyed with the idea of running after May, but decided against it. I was still wearing this awful Magma outfit, and it'd be better to find her in Rustboro than jump out at her in the woods.

But I could solve one of my problems.

I pulled the Magma hoodie over my head, and tore the rest of the outfit away until I stood in nothing but a pair of light cotton trousers.

Even though they were the same black Magma ones, they weren't so bad once the rest of the costume was off. I took my socks and shoes off for good measure, and stuffed the whole lot into my bag.

Now shirtless, I set off into the depths of the woods. I could probably find a shorter way through the woods than the winding path which the road took.

As I walked away, I raised my hands above my head and clapped twice. Right on cue, my Treecko leapt off the branch overhead he'd been sitting on, and jumped into my hands. He wasn't half bad, for such a little menace.

I really had to think of a good name for him soon. He deserved a better one than I could think of.


	2. Chapter 2

"Naked in the forest," I sang under my breath. "Naked in the forest." The mulch underfoot was slightly damp, even at this time of day. The cool squelch of it between my toes was heaven. I was so glad to be out of that sweltering Magma outfit. I'd even gone a step further and stripped off the rest of my clothes. The way I see it, my Pokemon and I are partners. Equals. So if Treecko gets to be naked on such a hot day, I do too, or the whole system is corrupt.

"Treecko!" I called.

The little green troublemaker chirped somewhere in the distance. I heard the faint rustling of branches as he bounded towards me, and then a lump of lizard landed on my chest. The adhesive pads on his feet should have let him clamber all over me with ease, but unfortunately for him, I was sweating like a Spheal in a sauna. He squirmed against me for a moment, trying to stop himself from slipping. I grabbed hold of him before he fell, and raised him to eye level.

"Treecko," I said again, trying to sound as serious as I could. "I fucking love being naked in the forest."

He made a happy-Treecko noise, and then whipped me in the face with his tail. The long curl of a Treecko's tail is a strong, prehensile limb. They use it to grip twigs when they climb and to reach low-hanging pieces of fruit. My Treecko, however, was a dick, so he used it to tweak my nose, quick as a flash.

I exclaimed in surprise, and loosened my grip before I realised. He took advantage of my lowered defences to wriggle out of my hands and jump onto my shoulder.

"Well, that's one way to train a Pokemon," I said, ruefully rubbing my nose. I expected him to scurry back into the canopy, but he settled onto my shoulder comfortably.

Although I knew I should flick him on his nose in retaliation, I gave in to the basest of urges, and scratched him at the base of his spine. He made a contented chittering nose, like a nest full of really tiny Taillow. Ah, he was practically a baby. It'd be okay to spoil him for a little bit. There'll be plenty of time to learn about crime and punishment later. Or at least revenge. That's close enough. Besides, he'd be picking up plenty of criminal life experience soon.

"Want to learn how to be a master criminal?" I asked him, moving the scratches up to the crook of his neck. He made the happy chittering again, which I took to be a yes. "Alright," I said. "You've convinced me."

Some muffled sounds broke through the thick trees. Noise broke up oddly in here, and it was tough to tell where anything was coming from. It sounded like voices, though. And then some splashing.

I grinned to myself. This was exactly where I wanted to be. Not that I was lost, or anything. I just didn't know whether I'd been walking for an hour or five. I was pretty sure it was five, though. Even though my PokeNav said one. It lies. It conspires with the facts and lies.

We came out of the forest at last, finding the point where the Rustboro River broke the treeline. With its slow current and wide, shallow bed, this was a perfect place to be on a hot day. It was a little out of the way, but people from Rustboro City often come here in the summer to swim, barbecue, and drink. From our position under the trees, I could see a few groups spread across the bank and in the river itself. I hung back in the shade for a second, reluctant to go back out into the full sun.

"Oh, hell," I said at last. "Treecko! Criminal lesson number one! Public nudity!" I dropped my bag at the base of a tree, and ran my eye quickly over the nearby section of river, picking a good spot. Treecko, who had been dozing on my shoulder, hardly had a chance to wake up before I burst into a sprint. I put my hand over him so he didn't go flying, and then leapt into the air.

My feet broke through the surface of the water a second later. There are no words for how good it felt. It was like eating ice cream with my whole body, in one big glorious bite.

Treecko was not pleased. He chittered and dug his toes into my ear, scrabbling for purchase on my head. He just didn't want to go into the water.

"Bit crowded for skinning dipping, isn't it?" asked a woman sitting on the bank. She had short, roughly cut hair, dyed a dark green colour. Her Lotad bumbled around at the river's edge.

Huh. I hadn't even seen her. I knocked Treecko off my head and swam over.

"Rita!" I exclaimed in recognition. As I spoke, I heard a sudden splashing noise. "I - oh, hold on." Treecko was flailing in the water, almost upside down. He'd be fine, but he was panicking, and the splashing was drawing some annoyed looks.

I broke off the conversation as soon as it had begun, and made my way back to Treecko. I plucked him out of the water and gave him a chance to catch his breath. He made an adorable little spluttering noise, but I wasn't falling for it. I turned him the right way up, let him get his bearings, and then dropped him back in the water.

"Hey!" shouted a girl from the bank. I groaned inwardly. Either this was going to be some annoying busybody objecting to me skinny dipping or some even more annoying busybody objecting to -

"You shouldn't treat your Pokemon like that!"

Yep. Second one. I hated people like these. Self-righteous moral crusaders who'd lecture you in public to boost their own sense of superiority.  
Treecko splashed near the surface of the water as I turned to look at her. Well, little splashes. More like splishes. Treecko splished, with only a moderate degree of panic. He was getting the hang of it.

The newcomer stood next to Rita. She was quite a bit younger, but looked vaguely similar. She had vibrant red hair tied up in bunches, and a vicious scowl on her face.

"Lady," I said, exasperated. "How do you think wild Pokemon learn to swim?"

"You shouldn't be cruel to them!" she shouted, completely ignoring my question. Ah well. It was nearly rhetorical, anyway.

I was about to say something mocking in return, but I suddenly felt something tiny bump against my chest. I looked down and saw Treecko staring up at me. He headbutted me again. Hah. So that's what it was. He was floating perfectly happily. We could work on actual swimming another day.

"Hey!" she shouted again, even louder. I winced. Her voice was at a glass-breaking pitch. And there are two things in this world any sane man hates above all else: the morally righteous and teenagers.

"Alright, Treecko," I began. He looked up at me again. "Criminal lesson number two. Aggravated assault."

I scooped him up again, pulled my arm back, and threw him full-force into the little bitch's face.

"Bite!" I shouted, laughing. "Rip her eyes out!" The girl shrieked, and slapped herself in the face trying to swat at Treecko, who easily dodged the blow, nipped her on the ear, and scampered away.

Rita sighed loudly.

"Brendan, why are you such a dick?"

"I'm nice!" I said.

"Not to Natalie," replied Rita.

Eh. I guess that was true. But Natalie was a dick to everyone. It was okay to be a dick to a dick. It cancelled itself out. I swam over to the bank, and hauled myself out.

"Brendan!" exclaimed Rita, covering her mouth in shock, and glancing at her sister to see if she'd noticed. Of course she'd noticed. She was staring at my dripping naked body, wide-eyed.

I don't know whether it was because of how great my body is or because she was shocked at it being naked. Could have been either. Because I've got a great body. But it's naked. Oh, oops, I thought. People don't like it when you're naked. Usually.

Back-up plan C: pass the blame.

"Why did you bring your little sister?" I asked, all of a sudden. "You knew I was going to be naked!"

Rita stared at me, incredulous.

"How could I have known you were going to be naked?"

"I asked you to bring me some clothes," I said. "Why would I need clothes if I was already wearing some?"

"I thought you wanted to get changed out of-" she broke off the sentence before I had to interrupt her. Couldn't have Natalie hearing about what we're up to. What I've been dressing as. We couldn't have a little blabbermouth like her talking about it - and even a brat like her didn't deserve to be mixed up in this. To be honest, I felt awful for involving Rita, but every resource was necessary for what was to come.

The reminder of my mission had killed my mood. I wasn't going to have much time to goof around like this from now on.

"Why are you naked?" asked Natalie, four steps behind as always. I grinned. At least the brat was too stupid to go snooping into what we were doing. Not like me. I'd learned the price of digging too deep the hard way.

"Did you actually bring me some clothes?" I asked Rita. She tapped her bag meaningfully, then began pulling things out of it.

"Nice," I said, and headed back to the river. My bag was still on the other side. I passed Rita's Lotad on the way, and bent down to rub his lilypad with my knuckles. "'sup Disco," I said as I rubbed him. He didn't respond. Maybe he didn't notice. I don't know. Disco is a chill dude.

I had crossed the river and almost got my bag when something landed on my shoulder, chittering furiously.

Oh, wow. I was impressed. A minute ago he'd been terrified of the water, but now he'd swum the entire width on his own. He must have thought that I was leaving, and rushed to catch up. Treecko are generally pretty calm, but babies of any species get flustered when they think they're being left alone.

"Hey little guy," I said, reaching up to scratch Treecko. "Don't worry. I'd never go anywhere without you."

He calmed down at my touch. Heh. Right on cue. Calmed down instantly. Once he's grown a little, there'll be nothing that'll bother him, and he won't even need this split-second to relax.

I nudged the bag with my foot. The black Magma trousers were poking out. I grimaced at the sight of them. Nasty things. I wasn't looking forward to running around more in this outfit. The only saving grace would be that most crime happens at night.

My PokeNav was flashing under all the crap in my bag. I managed to dig it out with some effort, and flipped it open.

"Yo."

"Damnit, Brendan, I raised you better than that."

"Sorry Dad," I said.

"Never say that again." He paused for a moment, and then asked the question he'd been calling for. "How'd it go?"

"It didn't," I said. "May walked by at the wrong moment and got in a tussle with the Aqua Grunt."

Dad swore on the other end of the line. He must have turned his head away so I didn't hear, because his voice was muffled. I laughed as quietly as I could.

"Is she alright?" he asked. There was some genuine concern in his voice. The thought that an Aqua Grunt on his own could pose a threat to anybody amused me for a moment, but then I remembered that I'd been just as concerned earlier. All the horrible things I knew Aqua members to have done suddenly flooded into my mind. I shook the thoughts out of my head. They were only dangerous in groups. Alone, they were no different than anyone else.

"Better than alright, I'd say. Srira is already a Combusken."

Dad whistled on the other end of the line.

"I knew that Torchic was older than the other Pokemon I had at hand, but it must have taken some real skill to bring it along so far, even with a head start. No wonder she beat you when you battled!That girl really is her father's daughter. I'll have to give Norman a call later. He'll be proud."

"He might already know," I cautioned. "She probably stopped to see him when she was in Petalburg. A bit of gym training would have done wonders for a novice like her."

"I had my doubts, you know," said Dad, suddenly changing the topic.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"About her beating you. I wasn't sure that you hadn't been going easy on her."

"It was Treecko's first battle. He did great for his first time, but May was already close to her Torchic by the time we fought. I didn't even take him out of his ball until then. She won, fair and square."

Dad snorted on the other end of the line.

"I wonder what she'd think if she'd gone up against one of your other Pokemon."

"That'd just be mean," I said. "Hey, Dad, I'm with Rita. Got to make preparations for tonight."

"Tonight?" he asked.

"Yeah. May might have done my job for me in the woods, but I've got another job tonight."

"Another solo run?"

"Yeah. I'll call you in the morning."

"Tonight," said Dad, firmly.

"It'll be late," I replied. "Really late. Don't wait up."

"No, Brendan!" he said, raising his voice. "I know you can handle yourself, but these are dangerous people. Call me tonight. I need to know that nothing went wrong!"

Funny, that. His demanding tones reminded me why he was the pre-eminent authority on Pokemon in the region, able to command respect from every recognised leader in the field - and yet he was demanding that I help stop him from worrying about my being out too late with a rough crowd.

"Alright," I said at last. "But only this time. I can't blow my cover because Hoenn's resident Pokemon Professor is being a baby."

I heard some incomprehensible spluttering on the PokeNav, and smiled.

"Later, Dad."

With a snap of my wrist, I shut the device and dropped it into my bag.

The girls looked about ready to go by the time I crossed back over the river. The way that they were sitting comfortably on the grass, stretched out in the sun, gave me a clue. The way that Natalie was leisurely licking an ice cream gave me another. Where the fuck did she get an ice cream from? I wanted an ice cream. It wasn't fair.

"Rita," I said. She looked up at me. "Clothes?"

"Oh, right," she replied, and tossed a bundle at me. I gave it a once-over. Waterproof shorts which could double as swimming trunks, and a tight-fitting black and white top. Not ideal in this heat, but whatever. My swim had cooled me down enough that I wasn't going to cry about the heat like a little baby. Any longer. Although I still wanted a damn ice cream.

"I didn't think I'd need to bring you underwear," Rita said offhandedly.

"That's alright. Mine are in here somewhere." I held up my bag to demonstrate. Just to mess with me, it bleeped. Fuck's sake, Dad. I pulled out my PokeNav, grumbling as I did so.

"Howdy neighbour!" May exclaimed cheerfully. I grinned, pleasantly surprised that it wasn't my clingy-baby-father.

"Morning," I replied. Wait, what time is it? Fuck. "How's it going, Torchic-girl?"

"I'm nearly at Petalburg. Catch me up at the Pokemon Centre tonight. I dunno when! Byeee!"

"I-" I began, only to be interrupted by the click of her hanging up. Well. A girl who was even more abrupt on the phone than I was. I didn't know whether to be impressed or pissed, so I chose to need a piss instead.

It only took me a moment to pull on the clothes. I considered digging my shoes out of my bag, but left them in there after remembering how much crap was on top of them.

"Right," I said, adjusting my bag strap until it was a tolerable level of uncomfortable. "Your place or mine?"

Rita sighed and shook her head.

"Come on, then. Natalie?"

Natalie didn't respond. Rita gritted her teeth. I didn't envy her, having to deal with a brat like her sister all the time. She gave Natalie a gentle kick in the side.

"What?" Natalie demanded. Almost a bark, really.

"We're going," she replied. "You coming?"

"Nah. Meeting people. I didn't come out here with you so I could meet Brendan." Ooh. Nice hateful inflection on my name, there. I felt proud. Almost fatherly. That little ball of poison and vitriol in her mouth? That was me. I did that.

"Suit yourself. Dinner's at eight. Please don't be late again. Nicole's making oran pies for dessert, remember."

"Yeah, yeah," muttered Natalie, not looking at Rita. Man, teenagers. I'm so glad I never was one.

We left a minute after that. Treecko trailed behind us in the long grass, meandering about whenever he saw something new. I trusted him enough to let him stay out of his Pokeball. He'd keep up. Mostly. Although he'd only been with me a little while, and I hadn't begun training him for battle, he was trained well enough to roam free for a bit. These moments were important. A bit of easy time between fights was good for Pokemon. If you only let them out to battle, battle became all they knew. All that they were. I'd made that mistake before. The image of a black Pokeball with red stripes flashed into my head. I tried to put it out of my mind.

This side of the river still had a fair few trees on it, but it was mostly an open, grassy space. There were even a few flowers here and there. I saw a Wurmple sitting in a ring of daisies, munching on a petal, and a cluster of Seedot at the base of an oak tree.

Treecko bounded up to investigate the Wurmple. I didn't notice until I heard the sudden hiss of a startled Pokemon.

"Hey, Treecko, don't eat that," I called out. "It's poisonous."

Treecko batted it with his tail, the same way he had batted me earlier. The Wurmple reared back, as if to attack.

"And high in calories," I added.

Unfortunately, either Treecko wasn't watching his weight, or my rudimentary lesson in biting had sunk in too deep, because before the Wurmple could attack, Treecko bit it right on its round, pale snout.

"Do you have to pick a fight with every juvenile life form you come across?" asked Rita despairingly. I scowled at her, and then she made a vague hand-gesture towards the Pokemon. "Go on," she added. "Do your Pokemon trainer thing."

"I don't wanna," I whined. "It's just a tiny Wurmple. Not worth anyone's time."

"You need to train up that Treecko. Got to start small."

"No I don't," I said. "That's so - so safe. And slow. He'll learn more against a better opponent." Here, I raised my voice. "Treecko! Come on, boy. Leave that thing alone. You can sate your insatiable bloodlust on something big and fleshy later, I promise."

Treecko looked over at me, and I was sure he was going to respond, but then the Wurmple stung him, right in the stomach. Aw, hell. Treecko hissed in pain. I groaned and took a step over, preparing to deal with a stupid baby-battle, but then Treecko turned his back on the Wurmple and ran over to me. Huh. I looked him over, and found him completely calm. He batted my inquisitive hands away with his tail, and began licking the tiny pinprick where he'd been stung. Most half-trained young Pokemon would have lost their tempers and beaten the Wurmple into sludge, but this little guy had completely let it go. I guess that's just how Treecko are. Chill as a Lotad.

"Are you done playing with the wildlife?" asked Rita.

"Oh, yeah," I said. "Lead on. To your house. Which is there."

Just in case she didn't get the hint, I pointed at it.

Her house was pretty damn nice. It doubled as the Pretty Petal Flower Shop, so the building itself was pretty big. It stood on a raised wooden platform, about two feet off the ground, to prevent it from being flooded in winter. The front wall was entirely glass, which extended halfway down either side. This was the shop part. Half florist, half greenhouse.

The wide glass doors were open, with a woman standing between them on a precarious stepladder. A little shorter and plumper than Rita, this was Nicole, the middle sister. She was watering the vibrant baskets of flowers which hung over the doors. I loved her watering can. It was shaped like a fat little Wailmer, with big plastic googly eyes. I walked over and grabbed the rickety ladder to steady it, and she turned to me with a smile.

"Oh! Thank you, Brendan, but I'm almost done."

"That's alright," I said, and was about to say something more, when she poked me in the belly.  
"You're in my way. I want to get down, silly."

"Oh, sorry," I said, and took a step to the side. She climbed down, put the ladder onto the ground, and then wrapped me in a tight hug.

"It's so good to see you again. You don't come by nearly enough these days." She kissed me affectionately on the cheek, and then leaned back with a serious look in her eyes. "Don't get Rita into any trouble, okay?"

I tried not to laugh. It was adorable seeing someone so nice try to be stern. But even though I'm a massive dick, Nicole was lovely. I didn't want to be mean to her.

"I promise," I said. "She's hardly involved."

"That's good," said Nicole, but Rita interrupted before we could speak further.

"No it's not! Brendan, this is serious business! You need all the help you can get. Don't push me out just because it's dangerous.

"I do need your help," I agreed. "And I asked for it. But I need you here, not out in the field." It looked as if she was about to argue, so I just pushed on. "Look, this is a big thing. I promise you, your part is important. Just because it isn't as exciting doesn't mean it doesn't matter just as much. We all have our part to play, and this will only work if we all carry out our parts perfectly. No matter what they are."

"When you asked me for help I thought you needed another trainer as backup. You know I'm capable," argued Rita. "I'm a league-class trainer. I ranked tenth in last year's Ever Grande championship. Tenth best in all of Hoenn. The whole region!"

"You know that's not how it works," I reminded her. "Not all trainers compete in the league challenge."

"The best battlers do. Every last one."

"Not all of them" I said softly. She paused and stared at me.

"I guess you're a walking example of that."

"Rita," I said, firmly. "Let's talk inside. Hear what your role is before you object to it. This isn't doorstep talk."

She nodded, and we went inside. I could feel Nicole's worried gaze burning a hole in my back. But it was going to be okay. I'd told the truth. Rita's part was small. Distant. Nobody was going to hurt my friends because of what was about to happen.

The cost of fighting this war will fall solely on me.

-

We were sitting in the girls' kitchen a few minutes later. Nicole made us both iced drinks, and then bustled off to watch over the store.

"How long is it that you three have been living here, by yourselves?" I asked.

Rita snorted, and added a spoonful of sugar to her lemonade. She swirled it around the glass a few times before answering.

"When did our parents die, you mean?" she asked.

Well, okay. If we were going to be blunt, that suited me.

"Six years ago. I remember. And I know that you do, too. That's not the kind of thing you forgot. Ever. Do you remember how they died?"

"Of course!" snapped Rita. "Their boat sank. Tragedy. Horror. Two hundred passengers and that famous scientist dead. They made a movie about it, and I punched some gabby interviewer in the eye."

"Do you remember who that scientist was?"

Rita slammed her glass down on the table. Flecks of lemonade spilled onto the table and icecubes chinked together. Normally Rita was pretty level-headed, but now her jaw had an angry set to it and she spoke through clenched teeth.

"I don't remember her name. That oceanologist. Something Katharine. Why the fuck are you asking?"

Ouch. She was pissed. But that was good.

"It wasn't an accident."

Bang. She'd knocked her glass over. I reached over to pick it up, but she grabbed my hand with a white-knuckle grip.

"What." It wasn't a question. It wasn't even a statement. It was just the sound of her brain shutting down completely as everything she had thought was happening turned around and screamed NO in her face.

"Team Aqua engineered the boat's failure. Some members were disguised amongst the passengers and sabotaged its communications when they were out to sea. A raiding party co-ordinated with them to pick them up. The first thing that anyone saw was a strange ship approaching. No name, no registration, nothing. Not even a mast. It was just a big hunk of floating metal."

I paused, giving Rita a chance to process this, and then continued before she recovered her wits enough to ask any questions.

"Nobody suspected anything was wrong until it would have been too late, even if the boat had been working. But the engines were off, and nobody could figure out why. The radio was silent. The passengers were having lunch. The strange ship ruptured through the side of the ship like a battering ram, because that's exactly what it was. A hunk of barely-buoyant scrap dragged by a team of vicious Sharpedo. Team Aqua have been doing this for a long time. They've got a system. They're good at this.

When the ram broke through the ship, it fell apart. This set the Sharpedo loose. But these weren't wild, savage creatures. These Pokemon had been deliberately worked into a fury and trained to be even more dangerous than wild ones in a blood frenzy. You can't train something that savage, not really, so some of them turned and fought amongst themselves. Collateral damage, Aqua calls it. That's what your parents were. Your parents and those fucking Sharpedo. The ones which survive drove themselves straight back into the ship, again and again, rupturing dozens of holes in the hull.

Your parents didn't die, Rita. They were murdered. Them and two hundred others who just happened to get in the way of Aqua killing one woman. And you know what this woman did to piss them off so badly?"

"What?" asked Rita, shakily.

"She said that rising sea levels could be dangerous. That's all."

"What?" repeated Rita. "That doesn't make any sense."

"They're a cult who worship the sea. Remnants of an old pirate clan, which tells you all you need to know about how bloodthirsty and stupid they are. That's what the purpose of this group I'm putting together is. Team Aqua has been killing people I like. I'm going to kill them right back."

Rita's mouth hardened, and then she finally righted her fallen glass.  
"I'm in."

"Great!" I said. "Oh, and there's another cult just like them called Team Magma. They wear red. I'm going to kill them too."


End file.
